Kaemaki Week 2019
by MythGirl Writes
Summary: My fics for this ship week! Prompts: Home, winter, life, adulthood, AU, pessimism, and free day: caretaker
1. Day One- Home

"What do you think?" Kaede stepped back to admire her handiwork, her hands planted firmly on her hips. Her hair, like Maki's, was pulled back by a strip of fabric made into a makeshift headband. "It looks good, right?"

Maki studied the wall in question. This must be the only apartment building in all of Japan that let its tenants paint the walls of their apartment. Given that the room she and Kaede were going to be sharing was previously blinding pink, she was very grateful for that. "It's a good color. Finally my retinas aren't burning."

Kaede grinned, lunging playfully towards her with the still-wet paint roller. "You're exaggerating. How's everything on your end?"

"Significantly less burning yellow and significantly more coral." Her job, self-appointed, was to paint the bathroom. Somehow, it was completely satisfying to watch an old layer of paint disappear under a new one. Almost like a metaphor or something.

With another step closer, Kaede snaked her arm around Maki's waist, one of Maki's favorite feelings. "I still can't believe we made it this far," she said, staring at the drying paint.

And she had a point. Meeting in high school, somehow making it through university, and now in their own apartment together. Both of them had steady, non-lethal jobs. This was a life Maki never would've imagined for herself.

Maki never imagined herself living past high school, not as an assassin. It was Kaede who helped her make the decision to run from the Holy Salvation Society. It was a long, tough process that took the greater part of her freshman year of college, but now, there she was: a kindergarten teacher. Because kids were always a constant, and she may or may not actually be warming up to them.

"This is us now," she agreed, leaning into her girlfriend. Their bedroom walls were now a nice, subdued blue, reminiscent of an evening blue sky. This was their life now, wasn't it? Living together, dating… Neither of them were quite ready for marriage yet, but they were fine with that.

Maki stiffened as she felt something cool press against her arm. "You're still holding the paint roller," she said, her other hand doing nothing to wipe the blue paint off of her slightly scarred skin. Even if she got it off soon, there would probably be a small stain for a while.

"Sorry!" Setting the paint roller down, Kaede tossed her an already-stained rag. "Hmm. You should wear blue more often. It looks good on you." She could barely contain her laughter at her own joke. Maki shook her head and got on to wiping off the paint as best as she could.

Not perfect. Nothing was, but what she and Kaede had?

Pretty darn close.

* * *

**I had so much fun with this last year, I just had to do it again! Hope you all enjoy this week of Kaemaki!**


	2. Day Two- Winter

There wasn't a single thing Kaede didn't love about winter. The snow, the holiday music, even the frigid air. The cold meant more sweaters and sweater vests which were, like, her _thing._ To her, winter couldn't get any more perfect.

One look at Maki told her that her girlfriend did not feel the same way. She was curled up in front of the fire in the dorm common room, frowning at the book in her hands.

"What," Kaede said, plopping down on the couch next to her. "Do you have a personal vendetta against _A Tale of Two Cities_?"

"Apart from the fact that it's assigned reading, no." She closed it on a bookmark and shifted so she was facing Kaede. "Why do you ask?"

Kaede shrugged. "You just kind of looked like you wanted to kill it. Why aren't you outside with everyone else?"

"I was. I just came back from ice skating with Kaito and Shuichi." Oh, maybe that was one thing Kaede didn't like about winter: if she wanted to protect her hands, that meant no ice skating, sledding, or skiing. She usually just watched, but that could be fun, too, sometimes. "And now I'm frozen solid. I don't know why I agreed to that. Kaito barely knows how to skate. He nearly fell on top of me a couple times."

"Yikes. That wouldn't have been good. He could've hurt you, and then I would've had to fight him." Maki raised an eyebrow at her in slight disbelief. "Seriously, do you not like snow?"

Maki shrugged, looking into the fire. "Not really. It's too cold, and everyone is loud and rowdy outside. I can tell that you love it, but I just- don't. It's not a bad thing."

Kaede laid her head on Maki's shoulder. "I never said it was. I was just curious." Her phone started vibrating against her thigh, and she perked up. "Oh! I need to go, but I'll be right back, okay? This'll be something to make you like winter, I promise."

She got up and started running down the hall, narrowly missing a few people as she made her way to the principal's office in the connecting school building. "About time you got here," Miu griped, holding the door open for her. "I was sure I was gonna be busted before you could get here. Are we ready?" Kaede nodded, producing a mini piano from her backpack as Miu shouted into the microphone. "Merry Christmas, losers! Kokichi, we took your dare so you better pay up later! Hit it!"

With that, they started their loud, off-key music, ending after their first song so they could scatter and (hopefully) not get caught. They split off from each other quickly so they could appear to have alibis. Kaede was nearly breathless between laughing and running by the time she got back to Maki. Maki looked absolutely exhausted as she regarded Kaede. "Really? What are you, six?"

"Sometimes. You can blame Kokichi." She crashed back onto the couch where she was before. "Anyway. As we were talking about earlier. Did that help you like winter any more?"

"Kaede, nothing is going to make me like winter. But I'm glad you like it so much." She smirked a little. "I have to admit, that stunt you pulled was a little amusing. Just a little."

Kaede laughed. "Yeah, it was pretty fun. I'm gonna get in so much trouble, though." She shuddered with a fake look of terror plastered on her face. "Detention. Can you imagine?"

Maki couldn't help but laugh at that. "Please. You'll be stuck in there with Miu, Junko, Kokichi, probably Mondo and a couple others. It's not like you'll be there alone to deal with the crazy."

She nodded, leaning back against Maki. "Can I hug you? If you're too cold in this weather I can help warm you up."

"Fine." Maki leaned into her embrace, and they both stared out the window at the snow coming steadily down. Sure, winter itself was beautiful, but it was made even more beautiful when she was spending it with her girlfriend.

* * *

**Yes, this has the same timeline as "Baby, It's Cold Outside." Yes, I am a genius for intertwining them, thanks for noticing XD**


	3. Day Three- Life

For the most part, Maki kept to herself after waking up. She only talked to Shuichi and Himiko a few times, but really just stayed in her room. She didn't care for most of the others enough to be bothered by them, and she was certain that some of them wouldn't want to talk to her, either. So why bother? Her room was a perfectly fine place to just exist.

Exist...and think. What she thought about was dumb, especially given the cirsumstances they were in during the simulation. And she was loathe to admit it, too, but she realized far too late that the feelings she had for Kaito did not consist of romantic love. No, she'd taken those initial feelings and redirected them onto him after the death of the only other person who would approach her for a conversation.

Shuichi knocked on her door. Only Shuichi knocked. Anyone else either came in (Kaito) or yelled through the door that they were coming in (Himiko). "Come in."

The first thing she noticed was that he already looked significantly less frail than he had in the first dew days. He smiled, something she also noticed he'd been doing more and more. Good for him. "Kaede's awake."

That explained the smile. "That's good." She had to play this off. He didn't know.

"She wants to see you."

That got her attention away from pretending to read. "She does?" Thanks to years of training, she was sure her face didn't betray any semblance of emotion, but she couldn't help but worry that it did. She closed her book, not bothering to mark her spot. "What room?" As if she didn't already know.

Something glinted in Shuichi's eyes, like he knew what she was thinking. Drat. "Two-sixteen." Right down the hall from her. "I'm going to-" He made vague motions with his hands, pointed to down the hall in the opposite direction. Cryptic way to show that he was going to visit Kokichi again. "I'll see you later."

She waited for the count of twenty after he left to go. Nobody else was in the hall, but she could hear chatter from the other rooms. With some still recovering from phantom wounds left from the game, it was easier to move from room to room than congregate in the common area.

Kaede's room was two down from Maki, with only Tenko's room in between them. Her door was only partially closed, but Maki knocked for good measure. "Come in!" came Kaede's cheery reply.

"Back to your old self already," she said, slipping in and closing the door behind her. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I can barely take a deep breath, but fine otherwise." Good. Postmortem wounds apparently left no aftereffect. "Um, I wanted to talk to you. About the game."

A warning sign went off in her mind when the game was mentioned. She didn't like to talk about it, but she couldn't say no. Not right now. "If it's about what you did, it was stupid."

"Yeah."

"And it got you killed."

"I'm aware of that, yes." She deflated a little, running a hand down her face, but perked right back up. "But I'm fine now, right? We all are."

Maki crossed her arms to hide her fingers curling into fists. "That's beside the point. Your plan got you killed, and watching that was a lot harder than you would think." She sat in the chair next to Kaede's bed, not meeting her eyes. Loving someone in a killing game was hard.

"I know, and I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to affect you that way." She took what Maki supposed was a deep breath, but it was quick and ragged, almost gasping. "Which brings me to what I wanted to talk about. Just hear me out, alright? During the game, hanging out with you and getting to know you was my favorite thing, and I know you were kinda reserved and abrasive but I really liked talking to you and right before the time limit I think I started to have a crush on you and I woke up with those feelings. I know we don't really know each other too well and that it's probably way too late to even say this but I just wanted to get it off of my chest."

For someone who said she couldn't take deep breaths, that was a lot of talking. Maki was stunned, but a quick search of Kaede's face told her that she was genuine- and waiting for a response. She didn't even know how to arrange her thoughts into a coherent response. "We're not on a time limit now," she eventually said. "We could get to know each other better here."

Kaede broke out into a grin, her eyes lighting up. "You mean it?"

"I do." She drummed her fingers against her jeans- way more comfortable than a skirt- and stood up. "Have you had anything to eat yet? I could raid us some donuts and tea and we could start now."

Somehow, Kaede's grin grew wider. Maki didn't think that was possible. "That sounds perfect. You know, I'm glad I met you."

Maki returned her words with a small, warm smile. "I'm glad I met you, too."

* * *

**VR AU FTW ^_^**


	4. Day Four- Adulthood

There were many things Kaede came to expect from life. Understandably, Maki needing to talk about something serious was not an expected thing. Kaede knew her girlfriend well enough to know that she didn't like talking about serious things much.

Not only that, but she seemed extremely nervous, pacing around the living room of their apartment. Nerves were usually Kaede's thing. It was strange to see them on Maki of all people.

"What did you need to talk about?" she asked, taking Maki's hands to stop her pacing. She put on an easy, warm smile to reassure her, but Maki looked away. It must've been really serious.

"I just- okay. You might want to sit." She guided Kaede onto the couch. Now Kaede was really worried. Why else would she need to sit if it wasn't for bad news?

Maki took a deep breath and pulled her hands out of Kaede's. She rubbed her palms back and forth on her thighs, as though she was trying to dry sweat off of her hands. "So. We're not kids anymore like we were in high school."

Right. It'd been ten years since they graduated, twelve years since their first official date. They were twenty-eight now. Both of them had steady jobs and each other. The way Maki worded it, though, definitely amped up Kaede's worry.

"I have no idea where you're going with this," she admitted, her brow furrowed. Maki could still be a wild card at times.

Maki was silent for a moment, just looking at her. "Where I'm going with this…" She shifted a little closer to the edge of the couch. "Well, we're adults now. There are certain things that adults do, and… This isn't coming out like I want it to."

"Take your time." Now instead of worried, Kaede was just confused.

Maki took another breath, her hands slipping into her hoodie pocket. "Let me try this again. Kaede, I don't think I've loved anyone as much as I love you. So-" She slid off of the couch onto one knee, taking a small box out of her pocket. She opened it, revealing a simple, yet gorgeous, ring. "It's not the perfect setting or anything, but will you-"

"Yes!" Kaede threw her arms around Maki and kissed her. "Oh my god, yes!"

Maki giggled- like, actually _giggled_\- and hugged and kissed Kaede right back. "I love you, you giant dork. Now give me your hand so we can make this official."

Immediately she complied, the ring sliding on effortlessly. It felt perfectly natural, like it was meant to be there. "I love you, too!" She could barely keep the grin off of her face, and she felt her eyes welling up. Of all the ways the conversation could've gone, she was completely ecstatic that this was how it ended.

And her girlfriend- fiancee- grinned at her, the happiest Kaede had ever seen her. "Should we tell the others now?"

"Let's wait. I want to savor this." She hugged Maki again, the two of them pressed tightly to each other. "My parents are going to love having you as an official family member."

"Your parents are pretty awesome." She could still hear the smile in Maki's voice, a stark contrast from the perpetual scowl she used to wear in high school when they first met. Adulthood wasn't always easy compared to those days, but right now? Right now, it was pretty darn good.

* * *

**That's right, I just did that :D**

**Thank you to markiplier3211 for favoriting and following, and everyone else for reading!**


	5. Day Five- AU

Maki was six when she arrived at Camp Half-Blood. She was afraid: afraid of the monsters that followed her, afraid of the skeletons that popped up out of nowhere, afraid of herself and her apparent powers. It was a lot for a six year old to take in. But she was given a home there, her own cabin, her father claiming her as his own.

She was the only child of Hades then. She was always the only child of Hades, because who else would want to have a child with the god of the dead other than the mother who abandoned her when she was an infant?

That was when she started her training, honing her powers, sometimes staying in the Underworld with her father and stepmother when she couldn't stand how annoying the other campers were being. Her father understood; it was why he preferred the Underworld to Olympus.

Years passed, and she stayed at camp. Where else would she go? Certainly not back to the orphanage who raised her those six years, who made her think she was crazy for seeing monsters pursuing her, and the dead raised to protect her before she could protect herself. But camp was boring. There wasn't anyone interesting, anyone who would willingly talk to her, knowing she was a daughter of Hades.

Maki was thirteen when there were two new campers in one summer. At least, two new campers that intrigued her. Twins, daughters of Apollo. Maki knew plenty children of Apollo, and she knew their type: loud, musical, sometimes healers. Often proud, almost never timid. She despised the Apollo campers.

One of the girls approached her before the campfire her first night. The twins were both claimed immediately upon entering camp- Chiron said that was the product of an old agreement the gods made. Whatever. The point was, nobody approached Maki. The other campers either didn't care enough to approach her in the first place, or she made sure they knew to avoid her. She didn't want to be bothered, and she didn't want them to treat her like she knew they would- too close to death to make any living friends.

"I don't think we've met yet," the girl said with the biggest grin Maki would think possible. She'd obviously had a good day. "My name is Kaede Akamatsu." She stuck out a hand for a shake, but Maki didn't take it. "...Okay then. What's your name?"

"Maki Harukawa." Maybe that would spark her memory- surely someone had told her that she didn't like being bothered with meaningless conversation. She turned away, ready to leave the conversation where it was- but Kaede walked with her.

"Everyone at this camp is so nice!" she gushed, her fingers tapping against her thigh. Probably the rhythm to a song or something, since she was an Apollo camper. "Chiron, our counselor, that Athena kid I talked to, everyone. I'm so glad, honestly, I thought it was going to be all monsters all the time once they started coming after me and Erika, you know?"

She was babbling. Maki didn't know what to do but turn around and say what she was thinking: "Look. I am not someone you would want to be seen much around. Stick with your cabin, or your friends, or whoever, I don't care. Just stay away from me." Lucky for her, she was right outside her cabin- the only one that was completely black, Greek fire torches burning outside twenty-four-seven. She all but slammed the door to her cabin.

Kaede didn't talk to her for the rest of the week.

Maki was fifteen when she realized that she might be falling in love with Kaede. It wasn't a sudden notion; she slowly noticed herself caring more, hanging around her more, wishing she stayed year-round more so she could have someone to talk to. Because really, apart from that annoying Muse child and the Melinoe kid, Kaede was the only one who really, _really_ talked to her.

The beginning of the summer was something she craved now. She used to dread it, the day when all the campers would start flooding in and everything was so _loud_. Those first few days were when she spent the most time in the Underworld, other than in the winter. It was better down there without her stepmother, anyway.

She couldn't let this happen. She'd seen campers pair up, and she hated seeing it. She didn't get it at first, especially not when she was younger. Romance was something she didn't vie for; it was something that she knew existed and that she thought she would never be able to have because of her parentage. Besides that, she was a Big Three child; there wasn't a huge chance she'd make it out of her twenties.

But at the start of each summer since she was thirteen, Maki was the first person Kaede talked to. And it felt so good to finally talk to her after only a couple letters during the school year- yes, she was that person now. Honestly, it made her feel ridiculous. But this wasn't something she could shy away from easily.

"-weird, right?" Kaede waved a hand in front of Maki's face. "Hello, you listening?"

"Yeah, sorry." No. No, she wasn't. "You were saying?"

Kaede frowned, her usually-present smile slipping. "Are you alright, Maki? You've barely said anything back all day. Maybe I should take you to Erika-"

"I'm fine, don't worry." And immediately after saying that, she felt bad for making Kaede worry. It was stupid. She hated this feeling so much.

But then again, there was something a little enticing about being in love. If she ever managed to say anything- who knew?

Maki was sixteen when she finally said something. She couldn't wait any longer. She knew that Kaede was planning on spending some of winter break at camp, and she was getting ready for her to arrive. Getting ready as in, trying not to chicken out of telling her. Her dad hadn't been any help, and of course her stepmother hadn't been, either. Aphrodite herself would've been more straightforward than either of them, and yet Maki had heard of her being the master of the run-around.

She knew Kaede had arrived the moment the door of her cabin flew open. She knew it wasn't the wind, and at least Kaito and Shuichi (who she'd grown the teeniest bit close to, but only because they were Kaede's friends) had the decency to knock. Kaede was the only one who didn't knock.

"Maki!" Kaede practically tackled her onto her bed, she was so eager to hug her. "Okay. Tell me everything about what's been going on. Everything was so boring at school, I just need any bit of gossip, please!"

There was the voice that Maki loved. The smile, the optimism that would usually leave her sick to her stomach. She was now- just, in the good way instead of the bad way. "Nothing much has happened- nothing newsworthy, at least. But I do have something I want to talk to you about?" Why was that a question?

Kaede tilted her head in interest, her long blonde hair tumbling over her shoulder. "What is it?"

_Deep breaths. Look her in the eye. You can literally control the dead; this shouldn't be this hard._ "I wanted to talk about- I mean-" She groaned in frustration. The pressure was on, but she was the only one applying it. "I think I love you, okay?"

Kaede blinked once. Twice. Maki knew it; there was no way Kaede loved her back, it was ridiculous to even think that. Then, slowly, a grin started forming on Kaede's lips, even bigger than the one she wore her first day at camp. She put her hand on top of Maki's. "I think I love you, too. No, wait- I don't think. I do love you."

Maki was sixteen when she realized that she could be loved. She was a child of Hades, the only one at camp; she could control the dead if she wanted; she spent a good amount of time in the Underworld. And yet, she had the most amazing girlfriend she could ever hope to have.

* * *

**I HAD TO OKAY**

**I have parents ready for all of the DR characters in a PJO AU; ship weeks just give me an excuse to act on them**


	6. Day Six- Pessimism

It was one of those days. Overcast, very likely chance of rain, nothing going right. An overall crummy day that made Kaede feel crummy.

But did she let it show? No, as much as she could help. In her line of work- a pianist for a local recording label when she wasn't traveling and playing bigger venues- it paid to be optimistic and ready to do the same three pages of music over and over. She didn't scowl, didn't complain. Optimism was as much a part of her as piano was. She could smile through just about everything.

Just like she smiled as she slammed the door to her and Maki's apartment. Maki didn't even flinch away from her book, an Agatha Christie novel. Kaede knew that she'd been on an Agatha Christie kick recently. "Sounds like someone had a great day," she said, absently turning her page before bookmarking and closing it. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Much." Her smile stretched tighter until she felt it collapse. "Okay, look, can I break away from the sunshine and rainbows for a minute?"

Maki cast a glance out the window at the now-starting rain and heavy winds. "The weather approves. Continue."

"Hilarious." Still she laid down on the couch, her head resting on Maki's lap. "It's just been a crummy, repetitive day. Instead of working on multiple songs, I had to do the same one all day and everything kept being messed up and I feel gross today, you know?"

She could feel Maki's hands tangling themselves in her hair. "I know. And I also know that a certain someone says to always look on the bright side of these situations."

Kaede groaned at her throwing her words back in her face. She reached up and took one of Maki's hands, threading their fingers together. "I guess sometimes not looking on the bright side is fine, too."

"That bad, huh?" Kaede nodded, pressing the back of Maki's hand against her cheek gently. "Why don't you try looking a little bit at the bright side? That might make you feel better. For example, at least we're not caught out in that rain. That looks particularly nasty."

"I guess. Okay, at least we're here together, and we're dry, and the day is over. Tomorrow will be better." Already her words were working. "Darn you for always being right."

"It's what I do. How about a movie and hot chocolate night? I'll even let you pick what we watch."

She had to smile at that. "It's only been my turn for the last two years."

"Not my fault you choose cheesy movies." Maki started to get up, pulling Kaede with her. "C'mon, let's get our pajamas on and get something to eat so we don't starve first."

"Fine." She stretched out the word but let herself be dragged into the kitchen, hiding a smile. She didn't know when Maki became so optimistic, and even though she knew this side was likely going to be rare to see, that was fine by her. Their dynamic was already perfect.

* * *

**Just some cute fluff for this day :) took me three tries to write this one lmao**


	7. Day Seven- Free Day: Caretaker

For the first few months, it was easy for Maki to hide her real talent behind the mask of the Ultimate Child Caregiver. That one was easily believable to the others, given her upbringing. Only Kokichi deigned to doubt her, thanks to their shared past, but she swore him to secrecy, citing the many times she covered for him back at the orphanage before he left.

It became harder the more she had to miss school and would show up a day or two later with sore muscles, hidden bruises littering her skin, and occasionally the pain of new scars where her classmates couldn't see, both on her skin and her mind. To his credit, Kokichi didn't out her when she was asked about why she wasn't in school, and she didn't out herself, either. She always came up with some excuse, like one of the kids was sick and they needed her to look after them. That was usually her go-to.

That, coupled with the fact that she and Kaede were dating, made everything twice as hard to hide. She felt bad lying to Kaede, the one person in her life who she knew loved her. But this was to protect her both from Maki and from what would happen if their classmates found out. Not only would they turn against Maki, but they'd turn against Kaede since they were dating. She couldn't allow that, not if she could help it.

This assignment was one of the worst, one of the hardest to hide. She was caught off-guard; some of the information she'd received was incorrect, leading to her actually needing to fight her way out. Of course, she left no evidence that she was there besides the deceased, but there was only so much she could do to avoid injury on her end. She almost couldn't use her arm thanks to the giant cut she got, plus the bandaging made her muscles a little stiff.

Luckily, almost nobody noticed that part. The part they noticed the most was that she was out of school for three days, one more than she usually allowed. She couldn't allow herself to show up if she was in as much pain as she was those first couple days. She was icy towards anyone who asked, and most of her classmates had since given up on asking. And since she was one of the only ones of her classmates who didn't use the dorms- it was easier for her to get her assignments right from the orphanage- that just meant that she truly hadn't been seen in three days, making those who did ask more concerned.

She fended them off as much as she could, saying that she needed to go to catch up on schoolwork, which wasn't quite a lie. She stayed back in the library or a vacant classroom sometimes to get as much work done as she could before the elementary school let out and she would need to be at the orphanage for the younger kids. It was almost like working two full-time jobs at once, plus being a student.

This time, though, she hid out in the bathroom for a little while during lunch. She'd taken some painkillers that morning, but they only did so much. Within a day or two she would be able to handle the pain on her natural pain tolerance, but she needed to change the bandages anyway, which usually caused a little more pain than usual.

She was cleaning the wound again when Kaede, of all people, walked into the bathroom. The only reason Maki chose this bathroom was because it was the one that nobody ever came to, but apparently that wasn't true. "Maki, is everything alright? You're-" Kaede stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the nasty cut on Maki's arm, the discarded bloody bandages that had been covering it, and the fresh ones in Maki's opposite hand. "You're hurt! I'll get Mikan-"

"No!" Without thinking, she lunged towards her to grab her arm, but ended up crying out from moving her hurt arm too fast. She brought it back to her side slowly to ease the pain as much as she could before speaking again, her tone carefully controlled. "I'm fine. Just stay here. Please."

"How did this happen? Is there anything I can do to help?" Kaede came closer, hovering a little as Maki leaned against the corner made by the wall and a sink. She looked slightly terrified by what she was looking at, but Maki couldn't dwell on that much. She needed to finish as quick as possible before anyone else walked in.

Maki started wrapping the bandages around snugly, wincing a little at the pressure. "Just calm down and stay quiet, okay? Don't worry about this."

It took a little longer than she would've liked, but eventually she rolled down her shirt sleeve, making sure that the bandages didn't make a bulge under the fabric. Once she was satisfied, she wrapped the old bandages in paper towel until they were covered and threw them out. "Any chance I can get you to forget this entire thing happened?"

"Are you insane? You're my girlfriend, Maki. I'm not going to forget, and frankly, I want an explanation. Was this why you weren't in school the last couple days?"

Maki sighed, knowing that she wouldn't be able to get out of this without answering some questions. "Yes. And I'm about to tell you something that's very top-secret, so you can't tell anyone. Got it?"

Kaede's eyes searched hers for a minute before giving a stiff nod. "You're serious about this. Go ahead."

"I'm not the Ultimate Child Caretaker. I'm the Ultimate Assassin."

Maki held her breath, waiting for the inevitable outburst of anger and fear...that didn't come. "That's it?" Kaede asked innocently, letting go of her own breath. "Phew, I thought it was something horrible, like you were dying or something!"

"What- you- you knew?" Maki could hardly wrap her head around this information. To her knowledge, she hadn't let anyone know, and she knew that Kokichi was true to his word. "But how?"

"Maki. I'm the class rep. Everyone's talents are listed on the class roster."

Oh.

Yes, that would explain it.

"And you're okay with dating a killer?"

Kaede tilted her head. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm dating the Ultimate Child Caretaker, who fell and cut her arm and who I'm now going to take to Mikan or the school nurse so it doesn't get infected."

So that was her game. Play dumb so that her secret didn't get out. "If you insist, I guess." The people she worked for wouldn't be very happy with her if it did get infected, since that would take her out of the game for a while. Mostly she was just baffled by Kaede not being bothered by this aspect of her that she clearly knew for a while. But if she was okay, then who was Maki to protest?

* * *

**What a good, long way to end this week! Thanks for reading!**


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